


Everyone's a Little Broken, and Everyone Belongs

by MadAlien



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: And just soft, Boys In Love, Emotional Sex, M/M, Patrick is needy and insecure, reunited, so much soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-18 00:13:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21518734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadAlien/pseuds/MadAlien
Summary: David has been gone for far too long, and Patrick misses him. A lot. Too much.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 33
Kudos: 226





	Everyone's a Little Broken, and Everyone Belongs

Patrick was waiting at the door. Well not _at_ the door, precisely. But near the door. At least six steps away from the door. Maybe only five. But the point was that he wasn’t at the door like a loyal dog waiting for his owner to come home. He was a respectable distance away from the door doing respectable things in said location. True, he didn’t generally read business magazines while sitting on the padded bench (“It’s a divan, Patrick”) against the wall of their entryway (“It’s mostly for aesthetic purposes to set the tone when you walk in the door. You’re not really supposed to sit on it.”), but there’s a first time for everything, right? And right now seemed like a particularly good time to try out a new reading location. 

Especially one that was so close to—or rather, a respectable distance from—the door. 

Patrick put what he considered herculean effort into staying focused on the article he was ostensibly reading, but he decided there must be something wrong with the writing, because the words just kind of blended together and didn’t actually form meaningful sentences. They must be in need of new staff writers or, at the very least, a decent editor. It had nothing to do with his general inattention or the way he checked the time every twenty-seven seconds or how he got distracted every time he saw headlights illuminated in the front window. It was most definitely the magazine’s fault that he couldn’t concentrate on learning about how to maintain a strong leadership presence in a rapidly growing business, a subject which he found himself very interested in, thank you very much. 

Another glance at the time and a petulant sigh escaped Patrick. It was almost 8 o’clock, and David had been adamant that he’d be home by 7:30 at the very latest. Patrick had learned not to be a lot of stock into David’s arrival time predictions and generally counted on showing up a minimum of twenty minutes past the time David claimed, but he kind of thought that this time, David would more of an effort to be on time. It wasn’t like this was the longest they’d gone without seeing each other since getting married or anything. 

If you didn’t count that awful week after Rachel showed up at the Rose family barbecue and sent his and David’s relationship into a temporary tailspin—and Patrick generally preferred not to count that week—this was the longest David and Patrick had gone without seeing each other _ever_. So Patrick was sort of hoping that David would remain true to schedule for once in his life and hurry home so that they could both be put out of their misery. 

Or maybe you’re the only miserable one, Patrick’s brain suggested. David, after all, had seemed nothing but cheerful and enthusiastic in all his check in texts and phone calls since he’d left. He’d spent the last four days trekking across the province, schmoozing with vendors he’d been in contact with for months but hadn’t been able to meet with due to their distance from Schitt’s Creek. So while Patrick was home minding the store and dealing with Roland’s frankly unsettling foot cream purchasing habits, David had been smelling organic soy-based candles, testing a whole line of CBD-infused lotions and bath products, trying on a collection of unisex felt hats, and generally enjoying wining and dining the vendors. 

David had really sounded like he was having a grand old time. Patrick was maybe a little disappointed he hadn’t been the one to go. But only a little. Mostly he just wished they’d been able to go together, singing along to Mariah Carey in the car and playing the stupid roadtrip games that David was weirdly fond of. But closing the store for four days was not a savvy business decision, and neither Stevie or Alexis could be trusted with the care of their baby for that long. 

So David had gone to woo the new vendors and Patrick had stayed behind, feeling lost and alone in the store, even when it was full of customers. Patrick always hated working the store alone on David’s day off, and four consecutive days of not having David there to tease or touch had been more emotionally taxing than Patrick had anticipated. Not that he’d told David any of this when he called each night. No, Patrick kept his angst to himself, not wanting to worry David or make him feel guilty for going on a business trip that had the sole purpose of supporting the store’s financial success (and that purpose had been fulfilled—David had convinced all three vendors to sign year-long exclusivity contracts). It wasn’t like David had just gone gallivanting off for the hell of it. So, really, Patrick told himself, he had no room to be acting like a needy, mopey, obsessive teenager. 

But then again, the more sympathetic part of Patrick’s brain piped in, the bed had seemed awfully big and cold lying there all alone night after night. And he’d felt strangely unmoored trying to sleep without David’s arm slung across him and his face pressed against the back of his neck, like maybe gravity alone wasn’t strong enough to keep him safely in place all night long. Suffice it to say, he’d had several sleepless nights, which was not doing much to help him temper his current mood. 

He checked his the time again. 8:17. He unlocked his phone and began typing out a text to David, but then deleted the whole thing. David was probably driving, and Patrick shouldn’t distract him. 

Patrick put his phone down on the bench, ahem, divan, next to him. Then he picked it back up. And then put it back down. He flipped aimlessly through the pages of the magazine, eyes cutting sideways to his phone as though it were a child needing heavy supervision to prevent them from darting into traffic. 

Clearing his throat, he refocused his attention—or tried to, anyway—on his magazine and nearly jumped when his phone vibrated. He grabbed it eagerly only to see that it was not a text from David but a reminder that the gas bill was due tomorrow. 

He slumped against the wall, both out of disappointment and frustration. He just wanted David to be home. That’s it. Not a big ask. He just wanted to hug his husband and maybe make out with him for a little bit and, okay, probably have some reunion sex before going to sleep with David’s octopus limbs wrapped around him. After spending the last four days without David, he craved his touch; he just wanted to be near him and bury his nose into David’s neck and wrap his arms around him and never let go. 

A key scraped in the lock, and Patrick jumped to his feet just as the door swung open to reveal David, looking as perfect as ever in a soft charcoal sweater with black embellishments and the loose black pants David preferred to wear when he wanted to be comfortable. “Hi,” he said, shutting the door behind him with his foot, shifting the various bags in his arms. “Have you just been … standing there waiting for me?”

“No,” Patrick said, feeling a little defensive and a little upset that David didn’t seem that happy to see him. He had fully intended on propelling himself into David’s arms the moment he walked in, but now he hesitated, remaining still where he was. “I was sitting. Until right now.” 

“I told you, the divan is really just for—”

“Aesthetic purposes. I know.” Patrick said, smiling softly at David despite the turmoil bubbling up inside him, watching as David nudged his suitcase against the wall and put down the satchel and totes he was holding. 

“Drive take longer than expected?” Patrick asked as casually as he could. 

“What?” David was now rummaging through a tote. “Oh, no, the drive was fine. Stevie wanted to hear how it went with the vendors, so I stopped by her place to catch up on the way home.” 

An unmistakable look of hurt crossed Patrick’s face, but David didn’t notice, as he was still very focused on the tote. “Oh.” Was all Patrick managed to say. 

His was being irrational. He knew this. There was no reason to feel hurt that David had stopped to chat with Stevie. What different does forty-five minutes really make in the scheme of things? 

But on the other hand, did it say something about their relationship that instead of rushing home to see his husband, David had instead stopped to talk to his best friend? Had David really not missed Patrick in the same gut-wrenching way Patrick had missed David?

Though he hadn’t actually retrieved anything, David was apparently satisfied with his rifling through the totes and straightened up to look at Patrick, who was standing motionless in the same spot he’d been in since David walked in, magazine dangling from his hand. 

David’s eyebrows knit together. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Patrick said quickly. “Tired. I think I’m just going to go get ready for bed and then read or something.” 

“Okay,” David said, drawing the word out in confusion. “Can I at least have a welcome home kiss or something?” 

Patrick smiled, but it looked a little stiff and forced. He closed the distance between himself and David and slid his arms around David’s waist (because how could he not), leaning up to accept David’s gentle kiss. 

The moment David’s lips met his, it felt like something broke inside Patrick. All the longing and loneliness and uncertainty and insecurity that had cropped up while David was gone surged all at once, and it was entirely too much. He pulled away from the kiss, choosing instead to hide his face against David’s neck, clinging to David tightly as though afraid somebody were going to take him away. 

A tiny sob bubbled up in Patrick’s chest, and he tried to hold it back, but wasn’t entirely successful. 

“Honey?” David said, voice full of concern. “Patrick, what’s wrong?” He tried to pull back a little so he could look Patrick in the eye, but Patrick continued to hold onto David tightly, not allowing him to move. 

Patrick didn’t say anything, just shook his head. 

“Patrick?”

A small sniffle, then a barely audible question full of vulnerability and despair: “Why didn’t you miss me?”

“What? Patrick, what are you talking about? Of course I missed you!” David tried to keep the confusion and incredulity out of his voice, but he truly didn’t know where Patrick was getting the idea that he didn’t miss him. 

Patrick fell silent again, not responding to David and refusing to look at him. 

“Honey, would you be more comfortable talking in bed?” 

Patrick hesitated and then nodded against David’s neck. 

“Okay,” David said softly. “Let’s go to the bedroom, then.” 

Patrick peeled himself away from David’s chest and allowed David to take him by the hand and lead him to the bedroom, where David kicked off his shoes before laying down on his back and gathering Patrick in his arms. 

Nestled against David’s chest, Patrick took deep breaths, trying to calm himself, and clutched David’s sweater in one fist. It was truly a testament to how much David loved Patrick that he didn’t even flinch when he saw the expensive fabric bunched up in Patrick’s hand, undoubtedly getting stretched and misshapen. 

One of David’s hands rested on the dip of Patrick’s waist, and he rucked his shirt up a little so that he could rub soothing circles on the soft skin there with his thumb, and the other trailed gentle fingers along Patrick’s back. David pressed a tender kiss to Patrick’s forehead. “Can you tell me what’s going on, sweetheart?” 

“I don’t—I don’t really know,” Patrick said, voice small. “It’s just—you were gone and the store felt so empty without you and I couldn’t sleep and you were having such a good time on your trip and it was lonely here without you and I just wanted you to come home and then you weren’t home when you said you’d be and—I just—I missed you so much, David. I was expecting to miss you. But I didn’t think it would be that hard? We’ve never really been apart like that before and so it was just all new and overwhelming, and I hated it. And then I felt ridiculous for being so upset, because I’m a grown man and a co-owner in a business, and I should be able to function as both of those things without my husband around.”

David smiled fondly, kissing Patrick on the forehead. “Patrick, feeling that way isn’t ridiculous. At all. It’s perfectly normal to miss people you love when they’re away.” 

Patrick huffed. Classifying David under the umbrella category of “people he loves” felt almost insulting in its simplicity. David was so much more than that. He wasn’t “people he loves”—he was the person he loves. The person he’d chosen to spend his whole life with. The person who knew him more intimately than any other human on the planet. The person who held him at night and who drove him crazy with his unwavering dedication to his skin care routine and who looked at him like he was a precious gift he couldn’t believe he’d received. The person who, apparently, he couldn’t spend more than thirty-six hours away from before being completely overwhelmed with a feeling of aimless emptiness and falling apart. 

“I guess,” was what Patrick finally decided to say. 

David nuzzled Patrick’s face gently. “Can we talk about the part where you thought I didn’t miss you?”

Patrick flushed, completely unable to believe that he’d actually said the words out loud. “David, this is _embarrassing_ ,” he said quietly. “It was a moment of insecurity, and it’s over now. Can we just forget about it?”

“Honey, no. We can’t. Please, will you tell me?” David’s voice was firm, but soft and kind and loving, and it melted Patrick a little. 

“It was irrational, okay? I know that. But … you having such a good time on the trip—the _business_ trip for our store—and I was just here feeling miserable without you and so somehow my brain decided that meant that you didn’t miss me. And then instead of coming straight home to me, you stopped to see Stevie like you weren’t desperate to see me like I was to see you. So I was just sitting here alone, waiting and waiting and you didn’t even seem that happy to see me when you got here.” By the time he finished talking, Patrick’s voice had trailed off to a mere whisper, his voice thick with a mixture of embarrassment and raw vulnerability. 

“Oh, Patrick,” David crooned. He rolled them so that he was above Patrick, elbows braced on either side of Patrick’s head. He swooped down for a sweet kiss before pulling back, ensuring that Patrick was meeting his gaze before going on. “Honey, I’m so sorry I made you feel that way. Stopping to see Stevie had nothing to do with me not being excited to see you. It was just on the way, and I knew that once I got home, I’d just want to be with you and wouldn’t be able to make time to see her for a few days. But I’m sorry—I should have given you a head’s up that I was going to be late, and I shouldn’t have been so distracted when I first got home.”

“It’s okay,” Patrick said quietly. 

“And Patrick?” He waited until Patrick was making eye contact once more. “Yes, I had a good time on the trip, but I missed you so fucking much. The entire time I just kept thinking how much better it would have been if you’d been there too or if I’d just been home with you. All those things you described—feeling lonely and overwhelmed? That’s what I was feeling too. I don’t care if it makes me clingy or needy or whatever, but I don’t ever want to be away from you for that long again.”

Patrick’s warm golden eyes were glistening a little. “But you didn’t say any of that when we talked.” 

“Neither did you,” David said softly, without reproach or accusation. He shifted so that he could caress Patrick’s cheek. “But we’re not going to do that again, okay? Hopefully we won’t have to be apart that long, but if we are, we’ll be open with each other and not hide how we’re feeling. Apparently communication is important or something.” He smiled teasingly at Patrick. 

Patrick nodded, squeezing David’s bicep affectionately. “Okay,” he said, his voice earnest. “I love you, David.” 

“I love you, too.” He leaned down to kiss Patrick, and unlike the other soft, sweet kisses he’d bestowed on his husband since coming home, this one deepened into something bigger, more intense. Patrick once again wound his arms around David, pulling him down so David’s whole body was blanketed over Patrick’s. 

Patrick’s tongue plundered David’s mouth, intent on tasting every inch of it. His arms wound around David, and he held him tightly—so tightly—needing the firm weight of his husband’s body around his own. He wanted to burrow into David somehow, make them one, so that he’d never have to be apart from him ever again. 

Occasionally, Patrick found himself thinking that he _truly_ understood what it meant to love David Rose-Brewer and that he’d finally gotten a handle on how big, how significant of an honor it was to be loved by him in return. Before David, he hadn’t really understood romantic love—he’d thought he did, but nearly from the moment David handed him B13, Patrick realized that every notion or idea he’d ever had about what love was or how it felt was a pale imitation of what the real thing was. 

But then moments like this happened, with David’s soft hands reverently undressing Patrick, smoothing and caressing every inch of Patrick’s skin as it was revealed to him, and Patrick realized that this kind of love was unknowable in its entirety. He could spend his whole life like this—and he planned to—being worshipped and loved and praised by David’s hands and mouth and he would never, ever fully grasp the vast depths of being in love with and being loved by David. 

David’s mouth trailed down Patrick’s chest, closing over on of his nipples and sucking gently. Patrick mewled, fingers carding through David’s hair in a silent show of his appreciation. He began to squirm as David’s feather light kisses trekked down his body, across his soft stomach, down to his sensitive hip bones, and finally to his hard cock. David gave the tip a sweet kiss, before sucking gently for a moment, Patrick’s hips chasing David’s mouth when he pulled away. 

“David,” he whimpered. That was all he managed to say, but David knew what Patrick needed. 

“I’ve got you, baby,” he said, placing kisses all over Patrick’s thighs. “Can you pull your knees up for me?” 

Patrick nodded, hooking his hands around his legs and pulling them back so that his ass was on display. 

“So gorgeous,” David whispered, licking a stripe across his hole, earning him a breathy whimper. He continued to tease Patrick’s hole, tongue soft as it swept across his ass, teeth scraping the sensitive skin just the tiniest bit. Patrick knew this wasn’t going to the be hard, desperate fucking he’d been picturing earlier in the day, but he couldn’t imagine anything better than the gentle loving care David was giving him now. 

After using his fingers and tongue to get Patrick all soft and open for him, David crawled back up Patrick’s body to kiss him deeply. Patrick hummed happily against David’s lips, kissing him back almost lazily, just trying to drink as much of him in as possible. Their lips parted briefly so that David could tug his sweater over his head, and Patrick was more than happy to explore the bare skin with his fingertips.

And then suddenly David’s weight was lifted off of Patrick, and he felt so unbearably cold. “Come back,” he whined, his voice high and reedy. “David, please, come back.”

“Shh, I’m right here,” David soothed, sliding back into bed completely naked now, lube in his hand. 

Patrick grabbed at him desperately, pulling him back on top of his body and kissing him and kissing him and kissing him. “Always want you closer,” he murmured against David’s lips. “I can never get enough.” 

“I know,” David said. “Me too.” He pulled back, face hovering just above Patrick’s, and just looked at him—his mussed hair and golden eyes and pink cheeks and swollen lips. If it had been anybody else, this level of scrutiny would have left Patrick feeling uncomfortable and skittish, but because it was David, Patrick just felt loved and seen and understood. 

“I love you,” Patrick whispered again, because it just didn’t feel right to have this moment without those words. 

“I love you more,” David said, and Patrick didn’t even want to refute the statement, even though he knew it couldn’t possibly be true. But David’s quiet intensity told Patrick how important it was to David that Patrick understood how much David loved him. Patrick cradled David’s cheeks in his palms, hoping that somehow his touch could communicate to David what words were incapable of. David’s soft smile in return was all Patrick needed to know that David understood. 

David kissed Patrick once more before repositioning himself between Patrick’s legs, gently nudging them wider as he settled in. He slid two slick fingers inside Patrick, thrusting slowly until Patrick began to whimper a little. 

“I’m ready, David. Please. I need you.” 

David pulled his fingers out and slicked up his cock, nudging at Patrick’s hole teasingly before slowly sliding in, both of them sighing in pleasure. He began a slow roll of his hips, and just like Patrick had guessed, this was more about being close to each other than it was about getting off. David’s rhythm was steady and gentle, almost soft. It wasn’t anything like the rough, animalistic fucking that they often enjoyed, but something else entirely—something that filled them both with warmth and felt like home. 

“Stroke your cock, baby,” David instructed gently. “Want you to feel good.” 

“Feels perfect, David,” Patrick muttered, getting a hand around his weeping cock. “You always feel so perfect. “ 

David smiled, maintaining his steady pace, his eyes on Patrick’s face, and coming only after Patrick made a mess of his stomach and chest, a few tears sliding down his face as he released the last of the pent up emotion he'd been sitting with since David left. David settled on top of Patrick, kissing away the tears and catching his breath for a moment before he started to slowly pull out. 

“No!” Patrick said, voice sleepy but emphatic. He wrapped his legs tightly around David and pulled him back on top of him. “Please, not yet. Just … stay a little longer?” 

“Of course, baby,” David said, lowering back down again and peppering soft kisses over every bit of skin he could reach. Patrick lay still, his eyes closed, and the only part of him moving was the hand that was gently stroking David’s hair. He looked peaceful, content, and the fact that David was the one to make him feel that way filled him with both pride and awe. 

After a few long moments, Patrick relaxed the vice-like grip his legs had around David’s waist, letting them drop heavily to the bed. “Okay,” he whispered. “I’m ready now.” 

David pulled out gently, bending to drop kisses on Patrick’s thighs before quickly fetching a warm cloth from the bathroom. He made quick work of tenderly cleaning Patrick up and helping him scoot underneath the covers before climbing in bed behind him and wrapping him in his arms. 

Patrick covered one of David’s hands with his own, lacing their fingers together. David made a happy little sound in response. 

Patrick’s eyes drooped closed, his breathing growing deeper and steadier and he drifted closer and closer to sleep, feeling safe and warm in David’s arms. And the last thing he was aware of before falling asleep completely was a soft kiss on his neck and David’s warm breath on his ear and David’s low voice whispering, “No matter how close together or far apart we are, I’ll always miss you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Crowded Table" by the Highwomen.


End file.
